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As India turned down Israel’s offer to send its crack commandos to Mumbai to rescue Israeli hostages held in a Jewish centre, an influential newspaper in Tel Aviv has criticised “slow, confused and inefficient” response of Indian authorities to the terror attacks in Mumbai.

“In the first several hours after the Mumbai incidents began, the response of the Indian authorities was slow, confused and inefficient,” said an article in Haaretz, entitled “Is al Qaeda behind the Mumbai terror attacks?” “The first forces sent to the scene were inexperienced local police officers, who suffered many casualties as a result,” said the article published in Friday’s edition of the daily.

“It took some time before military and security authorities realised the scope of the attack and deployed skilled security forced, including army and navy commando units,” the article said. “It appears the Indian government is not interested in high profile security assistance from Israel. Throughout the day, the Homefront Command prepared to send an aid delegation to India but efforts were halted when it became clear that Delhi was not enthusiastic about the prospect,” the daily said.

The Israeli defence minister also expressed concerns over the fate of Israelis caught up in the attacks. He also thanked the Indian government for its efforts to trace the missing Israeli nationals visiting Mumbai.

One Response

The point that the initial defensive forces were inexperienced can be true since the intensity of attack was a complete surprise. As soon as the situation’s intensity was realized the elite commandos had already taken positions.

The only reason they took a bit long was due to the hostages. It there would have been no hostages the scene would have been over in few hours.